Aftermath of Halftime
by Crisis Masuko
Summary: KH AU. mild angst, fluff, soriku. Riku got busted for messing up a solo and now he's grounded until after halftime. Problem? He promised Sora a treat... My first submission. Comments will be appreciated. :3


Third quarter finally arrived, and boy, did I feel like the scum of the earth. I'd screwed up my solo in the finale of Zorro, our field show this year, hitting the wrong super note and then panicking and forgetting to play the last two notes. Not only that, but I'd crashed into Pence soon after, almost knocking him and his sousaphone flat. On the march back to the stands, I knew I'd be the subject of scorn for the night among the other band members. Back in the stands, Larxene berated me in front of the band for about three minutes, then snatched up my shako and told me to not leave for the rest of third quarter. 

So here I was, damaged ego and all, staring out gloomily at the beefy football players pounding each other into the dirt down below. One of my friends, Hayner, was down there somewhere, but I just didn't see the appeal the sport had. _Yes, bash into each other and give yourselves injuries, all right. See you in the hospital._ Brushing sweat-damp strands of hair from my face, I glanced around morosely and sighed. All the band instruments reminded me on the company I was missing out on: Sora's glistening, navy-blue snare drum, Olette's complicated clarinet, Selphie's silvery flute, Roxas's silver alto sax, Axel's golden bari-sax--even Pence's softly gleaming sousaphone. The drum majors, Zack and Yuffie, were at the bottom of the stands, talking animatedly with their friends. Dr. Xemnas had disappeared as soon as we'd been dismissed--not that anyone really cared where he went anyway. 

I propped my chin in my hands, glancing at the football clock: fourteen football minutes to go. Wonderful, another half-hour of doing absolutely nothing; and that meant not wandering around the stands, either. Larxene had ways of finding out things…especially when it came to disobeying her direct orders. 

A thought struck me and suddenly my heart twisted itself into knots. I'd forgotten my promise to Sora! An image of the brunet flashed through my imagination: Sora smiling patiently, being jostled by other band members up in the food area. Little did he know that he'd be waiting for me the whole third quarter! I buried my face in my hands. Some would-be boyfriend _I _was! _Shit…_ Upsetting Sora was the _last _thing I wanted to do. I'd been waiting all week for this night, where I'd finally confess-- my eyes started prickling. I couldn't afford to wait 'till next week: Kairi was gonna make a move soon and then all would be--

"Riku, you okay?" A warm hand laid itself on my shoulder; I started, not wanting anyone to see me like this--least of all him!

"'m fine. Just got a killer headache…" I mumbled, trying to piece myself together. I didn't dare move my hands from my face; I could tell my eyes were red.

"Oh, you sure?" He sat down next to me, our uniforms barely touching. I didn't reply, not wanting to make this lie into a story. Uncomfortable with the silence, Sora poked my side. "Houston to Riku. Riku, are you still alive?" He intoned, a grin in his voice.

"No Sora, I'm _not_." I replied, my voice dripping sarcasm. My best friend chuckled, the sound reviving my spirit's a little. Maybe he _wasn't_ mad at me…

Another awkward silence followed, when suddenly the crowds started roaring. Sora nudged my side excitedly. "Look Riku! Tidus is streaking!" 

Sure enough, the blond was running across the back of the field, wearing what was later reported as only a thong, a hula skirt, and a Napoleon Dynamite mask. Sora cheered him on even as the cops gave chase-- luckily he got away by hopping the fence. I was still getting over this act of sheer stupidity when Sora turned back to me and caught a look at my face. His sapphire eyes widened. 

I'd barely managed to reassume my emo-position before he got his thoughts together. 

"What happened?" He asked quietly, his gaze boring into my head. 

"It's nothing." I said roughly, feeling my throat constrict. _Dammit, now is not the time to act like a dumped chick!_ "I'll be fine in a couple minutes." He threw an arm around me--a difficult task for one in uniform. 

"You can tell me." He whispered, lowering his voice further. I felt my face go pink--he was _reeeeaaaally_ close. "I never tell secrets; you know that!"

"It's stupid. Don't worry about it." I grunted, keeping my voice steady.

"What if I _wanna_ worry about it?" Sora protested, taking his arm back. "C'mon Riku, look at me…"

I stopped being difficult and met his concerned blue eyes with my reddened ones. His deer brown hair had lost some of its spike with the shako, and some of it was matted in places from marching. His lips were set in a worried frown; he looked like an angelic toy soldier in his uniform. "Why…" I turned my head so I was facing front, swallowing. "Why are you here? I'm sure Pence and Axel miss you--"

"--they won't care as long as Olette 'n Roxas are up there." He cut me off crossly, following the football game. "Riku, you _gotta_ stop putting yourself down all the time, man…" He leaned against me, his head at my shoulder. "It's not healthy." Sora looked up and met my eyes. "You're one of the coolest kids I know, Riku: I don't see what you have to complain about." 

"It's no use to try to cheer me up." I deadpanned, casting my eyes to the side. "There's only about six minutes left--"

"Why would I leave you alone?" The brunet asked softly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I didn't know why I was being such a basket case right now: I half wanted this attention, and half wanted to be alone. A strange feeling.

"Because then you wouldn't be worried like you are now and wasting your time here." I mumbled more frostily than intended. Sora didn't seem to notice.

"You're really weird sometimes, ya know that?" I heard a smile in his tone as he huddled up for warmth. "We've been friends since elementary school and we made it through middle school together, too." I almost shuddered at the mention of middle school--gawd I'd hated that time. "Why would I stop being your friend now?"

I lowered my chin to my knees, noting happily that my eyes had dried. "Because I'm a boring, awkward guy, and I'm starting to get emo, too. I've _changed_, Sora." He suddenly grabbed my shoulders and turned so I was facing him--the look on his face was incredulous. 

"_Repeat_ that?! _You've_ changed?!" He laughed mirthlessly, giving me a teasing look. "I have too, ya know! Remember how I used to be too shy to stand up for myself in middle school?" I did, strangely. It was weird to remember, but Sora had been quite the mouse back in sixth grade, only sticking to our posse of elementary school friends. Come seventh grade, band and lacrosse, and he'd blossomed before my eyes. 

I laughed fondly. "Now Mr. Luxia has to yell at you to shut up, huh?"

Grinning cheekily, he let go of my hand to pull gently at my cheek. "Now c'mon! Gimme a smile? I hate it when you have these moments, Riku." He mock-pouted, sticking out his lower lip. I sighed, most of the tension gone, and pulled up a smile for him. 

"Sorry about the Nerd's rope." I apologized of my earlier promise. "Larxene went psycho-bitch on me and grounded me for fucking up the solo." At this point I was ashamedly twiddling my fingers, grimacing. Sora blinked as something dawned on him.

"Oh, so it 'wasn't' because you forgot…" He started absently tapping out a rhythm on his knees, his perky nature returning quickly. 

I shook my head so violently I almost hair-whipped him. "Nonono! I was stressing out about it the whole time and didn't get the opportunity to talk to you before the dismissal! Then one worry lead to another, and…yeah…" I shrugged, feeling there was little more to explain. I glanced at the football clock: 5:46. "Ya know…" I laid my hand on his knee to stop the tapping. "We still have time to go get the Nerd's Rope…"

Sora grinned from ear to ear as I extracted a couple bills from my pocket. He slapped me a high-five and leapt up the stands, taking the stairs three at a time. I considered how lucky I was to have Sora as my best friend. _He's like a ray of sunshine after the storm…_ Smiling, I glanced at his snare again, noting the blue-taped sticks and the fist-sized drum key stacked on top of them. The drum key had a small sticker of a ruby-red heart crossed with black thorns--Sora's favorite band, _Forze de Mal_. I'd given it to him freshman year as an 'initiation-survival' gift, not expecting him to have actually kept it since then--let one alone use it! I felt my face heat a little as Sora emerged form the stands, victoriously holding the purple package. 

"Let's split it fifty-fifty!" He suggested, handing me the change, then producing the rainbow-studded candy rope. We pulled at the ends, but it wouldn't give. Pulling harder only seemed to make the candy fall off-- _Eegh, two minutes left!_. I leaned in to bite it in half, but Sora seemed to have the same idea-- oh dear lord. 

"Looks like _you_ got the gay gene too, huh Sora?" Roxas grinned behind his cherry-red brother, who was holding the uncut candy rope. I gave him 'the glare', then gently let go of my end. 

"Here, you can have it…" I brushed a strand of hair form my face, sucking up the courage. I couldn't let this opportunity go! A wave of nerves washed over me as I tried to find my voice for the next sentence. This is it! Do or die--well, not die, but…' "Sora?"

"Yeah…?" Sora didn't look up from the candy, his ears pink. Kids were reluctantly filing back in from the stands. 

"I…I like you. A lot." The words felt clumsy--why did my vocabulary fail me in times like this? "I think you're the cutest guy in the school and…uh…" I cursed myself, wishing them was a prettier way of saying it. The blood rushed through my ears; my heart was fluttering faster than the drumline's Eight-on-a-Hand warm-ups. _Say yes! Say yes!…Say _something! 

Larxene strode back into the stands, holding a bag of half-eaten kettle corn. "Yo, Riku. Hope you've been practicing the solo." She remarked, offering a handful of the sweet and salty treat. When I didn't move, the section leader shrugged and shuffled back to her trumpet. Sora's lips parted almost imperceptively. I leaned in, desperate to see his reaction. 

"Do ya mean it?" He whispered all-too-quietly. 

"Yeah…I do. With all my heart." I replied in a low voice, biting the inside of my lip. I couldn't see his eyes. _Is he scared?! Nervous?! I can't tell--_

His perfect mouth split into a wide grin. "Omigawd, Riku! You actually _like _me!" He trilled as he pulled me into a tight hug. 

"Sora…" I breathed, clutching him tighter, a feeling of joy welling up in me. _The tension's yesterday's news! Sora_ likes _me_! "I'm so happy, oh gawd…Sora…"

An elbow dug into my upper back, killing the moment for me. "The whole band's watching!" Axel hissed near my ear. We sprang apart like startled cats and Sora darted back to his drum, amid the jokes and catcalls thrown at him. Rikku elbowed him, singing the Axe theme as she picked up her cymbals; Sora just grinned back, his eyes alight with joy. 

Dr. Xemnas strode back into the stands and Zack and Yuffie called out the name of the next song. As I flipped through my music, something clanged into my trumpet and fell into my lap. It was my half of the Nerd's rope. Sora caught my eye, grinning cheekily as his half dangled from his mouth. 

"Just cuz _you_ have your mouth free!" I shot back.

Finis 


End file.
